Authorities Begin Evidence Examination in Gizmodo iPhone Case

[cvaldes]

That is because ipod is only worth $300 and an iPhone prototype leak probably cost Apple $millions, because all of their android competitors know exactly what the next iPhone will look like and can adjust their plans accordingly.

That's a nice theory.

Oddly enough, Android manufacturers have not been closely copying Apple's design nor was the user interface (software) revealed in this leak.

 

[MH01]

1) This isn't a "bar" in the sense of "yo lets get us some drunk on!". The employee took it with him to diner with his uncle at a restaurant that specializes in accompanying meals with premium belgian beers. The employee and his uncle ate diner and had a beer with diner at a table. I have actually been to the restaurant in question and it is definitely not a "bar". Think more along the lines of a restaurant brewery.

2) The employee is part of a field test program to make sure the phone works outside of the apple campus so that when it gets to you it works in the real world. The original iPhone was also in the hands of a few hundred testers for 3-6 months prior to "one more thing..." at the keynote. field testing must be done to ensure it works.

3) The iphone prototype was encased in a sophisticated case to disguise it as an iphone 3G(s). If you had seen the employee with the phone you would not have any idea it was a prototype and figured it was a regular iPhone with a case.

Nice try, thanks for playing...

I'll play

1. Yeah I have seen one or a few hundred of those in Europe. Its called a pub, beer garden heck call it what you want, people eat there and still get pissed! There is one on every corner in london almost. I was in a club last weekend where there were a few Chelsea players, sure high class etc, I was just as likely to loose my phone there as in my local pub... your point?

2. So he was ticking off... works in the "restaurant that specializes in accompanying meals with premium belgian beers" tick box? Thank god they test iphone to make sure they work in pubs. If he was there on business testing it he would have not forgot it!

3. And he lost the case as well... so back to the original point, why did he take apples most secret prototype to a pub? seems he was there for social reasons and not work.

4. Do not know where you work, but when I am at work or on the job, they do not allow me to have alcohol! If he was testing the device and working, he farked up.

 

[BaldiMac]

That's a nice theory.

Oddly enough, Android manufacturers have not been closely copying Apple's design nor was the user interface (software) revealed in this leak.

Copying Apple's design is not the only point. Knowing Apple's design gives them an advantage. It let's them know what they will have to compete with hardware wise.

 

[kernkraft]

There are people happy to kick a dead horse

"...some people advised him to "let it slide" but that devotion to what he believes are the core values of Apple demands that the company pursue action."

I don't think any of us questions that litigating the hell out of anybody IS a 'core value' to Apple Inc.

 

[Lochias]

That's our justice system. They need a "Special Master" and two months to read through one guys computer information. You could probably get a 12 year old to do it better in a couple of days.

Yes. Our tax dollars hard at work!

Tony

California special masters are chosen from a pool having appropriate judicial experience and a willingness to spend the time and effort. They are not paid.

 

[BaldiMac]

I'll play

1. Yeah I have seen one or a few hundred of those in Europe. Its called a pub, beer garden heck call it what you want, people eat there and still get pissed! There is one on every corner in london almost. I was in a club last weekend where there were a few Chelsea players, sure high class etc, I was just as likely to loose my phone there as in my local pub... your point?

The point was that there is no evidence that he was drunk or went there to get drunk.

2. So he was ticking off... works in the "restaurant that specializes in accompanying meals with premium belgian beers" tick box? Thank god they test iphone to make sure they work in pubs. If he was there on business testing it he would have not forgot it!

He wasn't ticking off anything. He was getting something to eat and having a beer. Apple employees are not required to work 24/7. He was asked to carry the phone 24/7 to field test it.

3. And he lost the case as well... so back to the original point, why did he take apples most secret prototype to a pub? seems he was there for social reasons and not work.

He was there for social reasons and not work. Field testing a phone involves carrying with you as you go about your normal day.

4. Do not know where you work, but when I am at work or on the job, they do not allow me to have alcohol! If he was testing the device and working, he farked up.

Again, he was not working.

 

[skottichan]

I'll play

1. Yeah I have seen one or a few hundred of those in Europe. Its called a pub, beer garden heck call it what you want, people eat there and still get pissed! There is one on every corner in london almost. I was in a club last weekend where there were a few Chelsea players, sure high class etc, I was just as likely to loose my phone there as in my local pub... your point?

2. So he was ticking off... works in the "restaurant that specializes in accompanying meals with premium belgian beers" tick box? Thank god they test iphone to make sure they work in pubs. If he was there on business testing it he would have not forgot it!

3. And he lost the case as well... so back to the original point, why did he take apples most secret prototype to a pub? seems he was there for social reasons and not work.

4. Do not know where you work, but when I am at work or on the job, they do not allow me to have alcohol! If he was testing the device and working, he farked up.

He was using it as it has been described 100 times before, and will continue to described. He was in the real world, hence the first two words of "Real World Testing". Was he supposed to leave it home when he went to dinner with his uncle?

There's a HUGE difference between the establishment he was at and a "bar" in the States. Most importantly, unlike Europe, and England specifically, the particular establishment he was in, is more akin to a sit down restaurant with a beer garden theme.

 

[BaldiMac]

"...some people advised him to "let it slide" but that devotion to what he believes are the core values of Apple demands that the company pursue action."

I don't think any of us questions that litigating the hell out of anybody IS a 'core value' to Apple Inc.

How many significant lawsuits has Apple initiated in the last decade? Psystar. HTC. Think Secret., Anything else? They get sued a whole lot more than they sue.

 

[GoodWatch]

I guess you're pretty ignorant of corporate espionage.

I guess the droves of Apple lawyers and the Apple name provided for some, let's call it, leverage

 

[kernkraft]

I'll play

I was in a club last weekend where there were a few Chelsea players, sure high class etc, I was just as likely to loose my phone there as in my local pub... your point?

Chelsea players? High class?


Sure, and WAGS are little princesses! They might loosen your 'gadget', if you don't lose it.

 

[Lochias]

Is it a crime to sell found goods?

Yes, if you remove them from the premises in which they are found, do not tell the property owner or the police, and, after an argument with your roommate on the matter, refuse to call the owner.

If the roommate then does call the owner, and talks to the cops, you are likely in due course to find yourself with free room and board. And a new roommate.

 

[whatever]

There are real crimes other than murder, you know. So far as computer crime goes, I'm much more concerned about hackers, distributors of child pornography, people who steal credit card information, etc. than people who buy lost iPhones.

There is some question whether or not the phone was lost/left behind or taken/stolen out of someone's bag.

Either way, buying something that you know is stolen is not legal.

And there is also the issue that the "found" item was taken apart.

 

[realeric]

"...some people advised him to "let it slide" but that devotion to what he believes are the core values of Apple demands that the company pursue action."

I don't think any of us questions that litigating the hell out of anybody IS a 'core value' to Apple Inc.

Yes, I do think.

 

[shakenmartini]

I'll play

1. Yeah I have seen one or a few hundred of those in Europe. Its called a pub, beer garden heck call it what you want, people eat there and still get pissed! There is one on every corner in london almost. I was in a club last weekend where there were a few Chelsea players, sure high class etc, I was just as likely to loose my phone there as in my local pub... your point?

2. So he was ticking off... works in the "restaurant that specializes in accompanying meals with premium belgian beers" tick box? Thank god they test iphone to make sure they work in pubs. If he was there on business testing it he would have not forgot it!

3. And he lost the case as well... so back to the original point, why did he take apples most secret prototype to a pub? seems he was there for social reasons and not work.

4. Do not know where you work, but when I am at work or on the job, they do not allow me to have alcohol! If he was testing the device and working, he farked up.

You still fail

1. It is a restaurant. Not a place to get drunk. This is not Europe, and he is apparently a real professional unlike you or your friends. This is the US where it appears people are a bit more responsible when they go to a restaurant to have a birthday diner with their uncle.

2. This is part or Apples normal field testing program. Yes, this includes restaurants

3. Again, not a pub, a RESTAURANT. Apple actually pays this guys money to take this prototype out into the real world and test it (under disguise). Imagine that, Apple paying a baseband engineer to go out and make sure the baseband actually works!

4. Again, he was not drunk, he was not on the "clock". Again, apparently in the US we are responsible enough to be able to go out to diner, and have a beer with diner unlike you or your European friends.

He is supposed to take the prototype with him as his normal job. He actually gets paid to take this prototype with him under disguise. He wasn't fired, so apparently Apple doesn't think he did anything wrong.

Again, nice try, next time bring some facts to the argument.

 

[AppleGuy1980]

As others have shown many times under California law the phone is legally considered to be stolen,and Chen knowingly bought stolen property.
Sorry,your personal ideas of what is illegal don't change reality.

To be clear, I was making a moral and not a legal point. What California laws says, while relevant to what may happen to Mr. Chen, is of little relevance in a broader sense. Nobody smashed a window in Cupertino and pulled out an iPhone or picked someone's pocket. Morally, the actions involved are all blameless.

 

[kironin]

Yup, only the rich get justice.

When i lost my ipod the police did not give a crap

Except you didn't have a media blog detailing who and what happened.

Maybe they would have given a crap if there was credible evidence of who had your phone and that the person was that taking you lost goods and selling them to a company who knew they were not the property of that person, etc.

it's not about the rich, it's about having something to work with. If they have no leads, no trail, then nothing to act on.

 

[kironin]

To be clear, I was making a moral and not a legal point. What California laws says, while relevant to what may happen to Mr. Chen, is of little relevance in a broader sense. Nobody smashed a window in Cupertino and pulled out an iPhone or picked someone's pocket. Morally, the actions involved are all blameless.

and of course, YOUR personal moral judgment is of no relevance to a legal investigation.

 

[ericmooreart]

Please educate yourself by reading the 10-page affidavit:

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2010/05/iphone_affidavit.pdf

Powell didn't misplace the iPhone. It was either taken from his bag or accidentally fell out of his bag. In either case it is HARDLY the "left on a barstool" story that so many keep repeating.

All indications are that there was no negligence on Powell's part. And that is exactly why he wasn't fired and won't be fired.

Mark

And what makes you think he's telling the truth?

 

[JAT]

Powell didn't misplace the iPhone. It was either taken from his bag or accidentally fell out of his bag. In either case it is HARDLY the "left on a barstool" story that so many keep repeating.

Still...this is why guys shouldn't carry purses.

 

[BaldiMac]

To be clear, I was making a moral and not a legal point. What California laws says, while relevant to what may happen to Mr. Chen, is of little relevance in a broader sense. Morally, the actions involved are all blameless.

So, "finders keepers, losers weepers" is a moral absolute?

Nobody smashed a window in Cupertino and pulled out an iPhone or picked someone's pocket.

But we don't know if someone pulled an iPhone out of someone's bag.

 

[AppleGuy1980]

and of course, YOUR personal moral judgment is of no relevance to a legal investigation.

I never claimed it was.

 

[LagunaSol]

I hope they crush Chen and Gizmodo. Not for what they did, but for having such an ugly ass website

I LOL'ed.

 

[Lochias]

No, we don't see the distinction. Justice is supposed to be blind (you know, the blindfolded lady holding the "scales of justice"?) and it should not matter that the victim is a multinational corporation. According to our justice system, Apple's prototype should be no more important than one of our phones. And since its clear that the cops would not bust down doors if one of our phones was stolen, that means Apple is getting special treament in the eyes of the law.

I'm sorry, but no one is so stupid as you pretend to be. You do not believe that this is like "one of our phones" worth a few hundred dollars and that its legal importance is the same as after the release of a product likely to sell some millions of copies.

Justice may or not be blind, but it is not required to be an idiot.

 

[tingly]

Even if the Apple guy gave it to the 'finder', the phone would still be considered stolen property. The story that Gizmodo was told wouldn't have been the truth, but should have led them to the conclusion that it is reasonable to think it could be stolen.

Morally and legally, it was stolen, especially if you believe the roommate's story about how the finder refused to return the phone even if it meant the Apple guy would get fired over it.

 

[GoodWatch]

You still fail

1. It is a restaurant. Not a place to get drunk. This is not Europe, and he is apparently a real professional unlike you or your friends. This is the US where it appears people are a bit more responsible when they go to a restaurant to have a birthday diner with their uncle.

2. This is part or Apples normal field testing program. Yes, this includes restaurants

3. Again, not a pub, a RESTAURANT. Apple actually pays this guys money to take this prototype out into the real world and test it (under disguise). Imagine that, Apple paying a baseband engineer to go out and make sure the baseband actually works!

4. Again, he was not drunk, he was not on the "clock". Again, apparently in the US we are responsible enough to be able to go out to diner, and have a beer with diner unlike you or your European friends.

He is supposed to take the prototype with him as his normal job. He actually gets paid to take this prototype with him under disguise. He wasn't fired, so apparently Apple doesn't think he did anything wrong.

Again, nice try, next time bring some facts to the argument.

When did you talk all of this over with him? It seems you know him personally. And boy, do I know how 'responsible' some of you US citizens are when you are abroad..... Diving from a hotel balocony into a swimming pool that was littered with empty beer cans the next morning. Very responsible indeed